Ionic separator



AU@ 6, 1968 E. R. woLcoTT 3,396,097

IONIC SEPARATOR Filed June 19, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 www IONIC SEPARATOR Filed June 19, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l K14-MNHN I I i I a 1 Ily i l 25 1 a 4. f/a" a 24a 25a il INVENTOR.

W fa/V h/do United States Patent() 3,396,097 IONIC SEPARATOR Edson R. Wolcott, 917 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90019; Sallie D. Wolcott, executrix of said Edson R. Wolcott, deceased Filed .lune 19, 1964, Ser. No. 376,379 3 Claims. (Cl. 204-300) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device is provided which is useful for the recovery of values from finely divided ore, the device comprising a vertical tank provided with a pair of spaced-apart, vertical, continuous, metallic belts adapted to move upwardly in parallel paths within the tank, A high D C. voltage is applied between the belts which Vare immersed for the most part in water which is maintained at a high level within the tank. As the finely divided ore particles are added to the tank and fall` downwardly therein, between the upwardly moving belts, constituents of the ore particles are ionized and' attracted to the belts and are car- Tied to the top of the tank where they are removed.

This invention pertains to an ionic separator. One object is to provide an improved device of this character which is economical of space, efficient in operation and in one modification is adapted for the separation of extremely fine ore particles which are not formed into a slurry ybut are sifted into and fall through a depth of water while subjected to a powerful electric field produced by high voltage direct current wit-h a very small amperage. In another modification, when chinle shale is the starting material, the ore is first soaked in water, which causes the shale to break 4up into very fine particles, and then the wet particles are introduced directly into the top of the separator without passing through any sieve or like device which is used with dry particles. The wet particles thus settle down through the water therein and are subjected to the powerful electric field, and the desired separation is effected as hereinafter explained.

The invention will be more readily understood by consideration of the drawings and specification, to which reference may now be had.

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation of one form of the ionic separator of this invention with certain of the elements shown diagrammatically.

FIG. 2 is a sectional plan View on the line 2-2 of FIG. l.

FIG. 3 corres-ponds to FIG. 1 and is a modification of my invention especially adapted to process chinle shale or like material.

FIG. 4 is a sectional plan view on the line 4 4 of FIG. 3.

Referring to FIGS. l and 2, the device illustrated comprises an upright tank which is preferably square or rectangular in section, as shown in FIG. 2., but may be cylindrical and which has a height not less than five times its diameter or width.

The tank 10 may be built of plastic boards or plants 11 but is sealed so as to vbe watertight. It is tall relative to its cross section and has an outwardly flaring upper end 12 and an inwardly tapering lower end 13.

An oscillating sieve 14 is mounted to swing on a horizontal supporting shaft 15 in response to an eccentric 16 connected by a link 17 to the sieve arm 18. The eccentric is driven by an electric motor 20.

Within the tank are two continuous belt curtains 24 and 25 which are almost entirely immersed in water, the level being maintained high in the tank 10 as indicated at 30.

The continuous belt curtains are substantially identical ice and are mounted on sheaves 26 and 27 at the top and on sheaves 28 and 29 at the bottom. The arrangement is such that the adjacent belt curtains are spaced about eight inches apart. The belts may be flexible metallic bel-ts or may be plastic belts `which have metalized outer surfaces.

The motor 20 is connected to `drive sheave 27 and a motor 32 is connected to drive sheave 26. The sheave 27 is driven clockwise and sheave 26 countercl-ockwise, as seen in FIG. l. Thus the adjacent belt curtains move slowly upward parallel to each other.

A direct current generator 35 applies about 50,000 volts D.C. through line 36 and brush 37 to belt 24 and by line 38 and brush 39 to belt 25.

The effect of the high voltage application is to produce an ionic discharge between the entire length of the belts which are immersed in water, while a very minute current, as for example 200 milliam-peres, flows from one belt to the other.

A transverse screw conveyor 45 is located at the bottom of the tank 10* and is driven by a motor 46 to discharge tailings as indicated at 47. The tailings are damp and sufiicient water is added to the tank 10 to maintain the desired water level as indicated at 30.

Vacuum collectors 55 and 56 are arranged to scrape and suck the particles, separated by the ionic action between the Ibelt curtains, from the belt 25 at sheave 27 and from the belt 24 at sheave 26.

The vacuum collectors 55 and 56 discharge respectively into accumulating tanks 57 and 58.

The operation of the separator is as follows:

Very finely divided ore, which contains very small percentages lof gold, is supplied dry to sieve 14 and is sifted therethrough as the sieve is oscillated by eccentric 16 and falls downward through the depth of water in tank 10. The ore is preferably of a fineness to pass through a 300 mesh screen.

As the ore slowly falls, it is subjected to the ionic action of the direct current field set up between belts 24 and 25. Consequently, particles of gold in the form of ions which are negative are attracted to and adhere to belt 24, while other gold particles in the lform of positive ions are attracted to and adhere to belt 25. The vacuum nozzles and Scrapers remove the gold particles at sheaves 26 and 27 and they are deposited in -accumulator tanks 58 and S7.

The Scrapers are primarily used to loosen the ore particles adhering to the belts 24 and 25 as they reach sheaves 26 and 27 so that the vacuum collector may transfer them to the tanks 58 and 57, respectively. The vacuum may be formed by small -fan motors 50 and 51, s-creens 52 and 53 being set in the walls of tanks 57 and 58 to permit air to escape.

The fact that the belts are immersed in water to a depth which is great relative to the spacing 4between them, provides for yan extensive electric field and adds to the effectiveness and capacity of the separator.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, like parts and elements are designated by the same reference characters except that the suflix a is added.

The sieve and oscillator are unnecessary and are omitted in this modification, which is specifically adapted for processing chinle shale. This is a silicate much like ordinary clay except that it usually includes small quantities of precious metals such as gold and platinum, in addition to elements such as chlorine, bromine and the like.

While the quantities of gold and platinum may be small, hitherto many attempts have been made without success to recover these precious metals, because their value per ton of the original ore is sufliciently great to be economically attractive.

The chinle shale as mined is soaked in water with the result that the shale breaks up into minute particles. These wet particles are introduced into the top of the separator, through trough 61, and gradually pass downward through the body of water maintained at level 30a in the separator.

A powerful electric field is set up between stainless steel sheets and is produced as in the modification of FIGS. 1 and 2, by the application of a high voltage D.C. source of electricity 36a to the stainless steel sheets 24a and 25a at 37a and 39a. In this way a powerful electric eld is set up between the sheets 24a and 25a, and the gold is separated by ionization. The ions are deposited on sheets 25a and 26a and are carried upward on the sheets, are then loosened by scrapers 60 and 70 and removed by vacuum through pipes 55a and 56a and delivered into tanks 57a. and 58a. After the gold has been removed, the tailings which bulk much larger fall down and are carried out by conveyor screw 45a, driven by motor 46a, and discharged as indicated. at 47a.

Modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A concentrator comprising a vertical tank having a height not less than five times its diameter or width, a pair of spaced-apart, vertical, continuous, metallic belts located substantially within said tank and adapted to move upwardly in parallel paths, means for moving said belts, means for applying a high D C. voltage between said belts, means for maintaining water at a desirable level within said tank, means for feeding nely divided ore into the top of said tank for downward movement between said belts and means provided at the trop of said tank for collecting separated ore particles adhering to said belts.

2. The structure of claim 1 having a transverse screw conveyor at the bottom of the tank. for the removal of tailings.

3. The structure of claim 1 n which said means for collecting the separated ore particles adhering to the belts comprises vacuum tubes connected to independent tanks and having suction nozzles located to recover the ore particles from the respective belts -as they pass to the top of said tank.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,295,476 9/ 1942 I-bison 204--300 2,900,320 8/ 1959 Metcalfe et al. 204--300 3,163,591 12/1964 Chambers 204-216 HOWARD S. WILLIAMS, Primary Examiner,

E. ZAGARELLA, Assistant Examiner. 

